Apies River declared a disaster area

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Cape Town - The department of water affairs on Wednesday declared the Apies River north of Pretoria, a disaster area.

A large quantity of raw sewage has been pouring into the river, located near the Rooiwal sewage treatment plant.

The department reached the decision at a recent meeting and insisted that the Tshwane Metro Council take urgent steps to resolve the problem, according to AfriForum, who petitioned the council to address the crisis.

The council has earmarked R11m for maintenance and upgrading of the treatment plant

Afriforum claims that the problems at the Rooiwal sewage works are largely the result of inadequate planning and mismanagement

"Another big problem is the insufficient maintenance of water treatment plants by municipalities that is partially due to the prevalence of corruption at municipalities," a statement from the group said.

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